Attendance was up nearly 50% from last year, with 152 attendees and 58 companies represented. Intsok's Oil and Gas Advisor in the US based in Houston, Mr. John Hurter, was the moderater of the workshop. The keynote speaker, Mr. Ron Dee, Subsea Technology Manager for Shell International E&P Inc., engaged the audience with his topic “Technology needs for next generation deepwater opportunities”. This key theme was carried through the day with speakers coming from Norway (Dr. Dag Thomassen, Research Director of Petroleum Technology at IFE and Dr. Halvor Lie, Principal Research Engineer for MARINTEK, among others) and those residing and working in Houston, such as Mr. Antony Croston, Senior Design Engineer for Trelleborg CRP, and Mr. Neil A. Holder, VP Sales & Marketing for Aker Solutions, who ended the day’s program line-up.
The workshop was interspersed with key networking/coffee breaks and a sit-down 3-course lunch. As has become the precedent, the Consul General of the Norwegian Consulate in Houston, Mr. Lasse Seim, rounded out the program with his reception, thereby providing one last networking opportunity for speakers and attendees alike.